Chapter 48: A Bowl in the Sky!

The crowd arrived at the back courtyard bedroom, where the canopy bed had been overturned, revealing a small box underneath containing a letter, a book with a yellowed cover, and several medicine bottles.

Xie Jinhuan, walking in front, saw this scene and shuddered all over, his expression suddenly turning panicked:

"Th-this... this..."

Naturally, this appearance made everyone suspicious.

Zhou He, the Hundred-Household Officer standing behind the crowd, seeing that everything was still there and that Xie Jinhuan looked as shocked as expected, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward slightly, and prepared to fan the flames.

Tie Fengzhang frowned tightly: "Young friend Xie, are these private items, inconvenient to be seen?"

Ye Hongshang, who had been observing everyone's reactions, whispered in his ear:

"It's the Red Scale Guard's doing."

Xie Jinhuan, having confirmed the identity of the mastermind, nodded secretly, thinking the Ghost Daughter-in-law was truly useful.

However, since he had already swapped the stolen goods, publicly accusing Zhou He of framing him now would be insane, so he followed the plan and said:

"Hmm... indeed, these are private items, inconvenient for outsiders to inspect."

"?"

Zhou He, seeing Xie Jinhuan actually admit it, couldn't help but frown, sensing something was wrong.

According to common sense, if Xie Jinhuan found extra items in his home, he should have flatly denied being framed...

Guessing there might be a trap, Zhou He immediately composed his expression and quietly slipped behind the crowd, but obviously it was too late...

Tie Fengzhang, seeing Xie Jinhuan's strange expression and sensing something was wrong, thought for a moment, said nothing, walked to the bedside, took out one of the medicine bottles to examine carefully, cautiously smelled it, and then froze.

Everyone was watching anxiously, and Linghu Qingmo hurriedly asked in a nervous voice:

"Lord Tie, what medicine is this?"

"Hmm... it seems to be Dragon Blood Pill."

"Ah?"

Everyone was utterly confused.

Lin Wanyi, standing behind the crowd, furrowed her willow eyebrows slightly:

"The Dragon Blood Pill I refined for you, what's there to hide? I've already reported it to the Academy."

Li Jing nodded slightly: "Indeed, the girl Zisu took leave yesterday."

Xie Jinhuan naturally knew the Dragon Blood Pill had nothing to hide, but to 'lure the snake out of its hole', he had to assemble all the fake stolen goods to prevent the mastermind from seeing through it and refusing to show up.

To explain his sudden nervousness just now, he had naturally prepared some unsightly items in the wardrobe as well.

After confirming it was Dragon Blood Pill, Tie Fengzhang put down the bottle and picked up the book with the yellowed cover to examine.

The title on the book cover had been cut off, replaced with new paper, on which were written the two characters 'Li Ji'!

Opening it to look, the first thing he saw was 'Jade Woman Sitting in Meditation'...

Turning another page, one dragon and two phoenixes...

Oh, the great rites of human relations...

Isn't this 'Yang Chun Yan'?!

After recognizing what book it was, Tie Fengzhang secretly sucked in a breath of cold air and slammed the booklet shut with the momentum of a thunderclap.

Glancing over, Xie Jinhuan slightly spread his hands, his eyes conveying the meaning—Lord Tie, that's enough, we're all grown men, see through it but don't say it...

Although Tie Fengzhang was iron-faced and impartial, he was not ignorant of human affairs.

A young man of eighteen or nineteen, in the prime of his vigor, who hasn't seen a few erotic paintings?

He himself had even been beaten by his master for this very thing back then...

Suddenly coming to search and finding an erotic booklet in Xie Jinhuan's room, if he still displayed it publicly, wouldn't that make an irreconcilable enemy?

No wonder Xie Jinhuan suddenly seemed a bit panicked...

If the government office searched his room, he would probably prefer to admit he was a demon bandit rather than let the government office open the hidden compartment by his bed...

Many Wu Zu, seeing the iron-faced Lord Tie's solemn expression yet hearing him say nothing, were all somewhat bewildered.

Linghu Qingmo asked cautiously:

"Lord Tie, what book is this?"

Tie Fengzhang had completely dispelled his doubts and was now thinking entirely of how to break the deadlock to prevent the junior from dying of embarrassment on the spot:

"Hmm... it's an obscure classic from the previous dynasty, Li Lao should have seen it."

Seeing this, Li Jing came forward, glanced slightly at the content, then calmly took the booklet and tucked it into the wide sleeve of his Confucian robe:

"Young friend Xie is indeed studious; it is indeed a classic from the previous dynasty. I guarantee there is absolutely no problem."

Seeing this, the others were obviously even more confused.

If there's no problem, why don't you show it!

Is it a divine technique manual or something?

Perhaps unable to understand what riddle these two experts were playing, Princess Zhangning herself came forward, took the remaining letter from the wardrobe, unfolded it, and examined it:

"Between heaven and earth, where spiritual beauty gathers, there is a woman named Qingmo, graceful as a startled goose..."

"Her radiance is peerless, like the morning dawn reflecting in the sky; her figure is graceful, like the clear breeze brushing the willow..."

"Her nature is compassionate, saving the common people from suffering, resolving the worries of the mortal world..."

As Princess Zhangning read on, her voice gradually grew quieter.

In the room, there was a deathly silence.

Many rough Wu Zu, upon hearing 'there is a woman named Qingmo' and the subsequent praise, turned their gazes toward the white-robed Fairy standing nearby.

Linghu Qingmo, holding her three-foot sword, had been anxious, but now her cold and beautiful face turned flushed; she didn't know how much willpower it took not to rush out of the crowd, cover her face, and flee, shouting:

"You shameless rogue~!"

Seeing everyone silent, Head Butler Hou fanned himself and pondered slightly:

"Fine writing. Though it piles up flowery words and isn't perfectly balanced, it does possess a touch of literary grace."

Li Jing felt as if pig fat had clouded his heart, driving him here to rummage through boxes and chests. Realizing something was amiss, he tried his best to offer a defense:

"I never expected Young Xie to be not only awe-inspiring in his martial arts, capable of moving heaven and earth and making gods weep, but also to write characters with such style."

"The phrase 'Between heaven and earth, where spiritual beauty gathers' needs no interpretation. 'Qing' refers to mountains and rivers, 'Mo' means black, black is Xuan, Xuan is water, so it must refer to the rivers."

"This piece of writing uses personification to praise the spiritual beauty of the mountains and rivers and the compassion of heaven and earth..."

Old Li had already done his best to argue like a great Confucian scholar, but the people present were not fools; their gazes turned toward the 'wronged party' at the back, Lin Wanyi.

Lin Wanyi had her hands folded at her waist, fingers interlaced. The veins on her pale white back of the hand stood out, her sour eyes hiding resentment as she glanced sideways at Linghu Qingmo.

(←_←)!

Noticing everyone looking over, she looked elsewhere, putting on an air of having nothing to do with it.

That acting is truly excellent...

Xie Jinhuan, fearing his previous explanation was too stiff, had interjected with banter to mislead everyone's train of thought. Now, he secretly praised the beauty Lin Da once more and offered a slightly awkward explanation:

"I didn't mean anything else. I just wrote it for fun in my idle time, Miss Linghu, please don't misunderstand."

No one believed him for a second!

Linghu Qingmo, who was naturally simple and straightforward, was stunned upon being treated by Physician Lin as a rival in love. She wanted to explain a couple of sentences.

But Xie Jinhuan had secretly written these praises for her; if she coldly drew a line now, would it cause the man to lose face in public...

What should she do?

She couldn't possibly act like those crazy young ladies, proudly showing off to Physician Lin, could she?

"Oh my~ Brother Jinhuan wrote for me, but you don't have any~"

Cry? No crying allowed!

Isn't this green tea behavior?

Princess Changning realized she had put her best friend in the fire. Wanting to make amends, she noticed there was more below, so she picked it up to read:

"Don't rush, don't rush, there's more. Hmm... A bowl in the sky, an auntie on the ground. Put heaven and earth together, and it becomes... Wanyi?! What kind of nonsense did you write?!"

Princess Changning's watery, bright big eyes widened rounder than Meiqiu's, as if she wanted to fly up and kick it over!

Hearing the sound, Linghu Qingmo was filled with shock, and the experts and Wu Zu filling the room all stumbled.

Only Meiqiu looked around at the ceiling, estimating and pondering—where is the bowl, where is the bowl?

Xie Jinhuan wanted to laugh, but to turn the whole situation into a farce, he now spoke nonsense with a straight face:

"Uh... I said it was just written for fun, I meant nothing else, and it shouldn't be taken seriously..."

No one believed him for a second; they even started to stand up for Physician Lin.

We know you wrote it for fun, but isn't this too casual?

When composing a fu for Miss Mo Mo, the word choice was so refined, with phrases like 'Her radiance is peerless, like the morning dawn reflecting in the sky'...

But when it came to Miss Lin, it was 'A bowl in the sky, an auntie on the ground.'

This doggerel poem? Even Wangcai, the gatekeeper of the Academy, could compose a hundred poems with a single bowl of wine!

Even if you can't keep the water level even in the bowl, you shouldn't let the drought kill the dry and the flood drown the wet!

If Miss Lin hears this, won't she be so angry she spits out three liters of blood?

(End of this chapter)